Review of Mandy (2018) by Allan C — 15 Sep 2018

Imperfect, but wildly original and engaging genre hybrid film is going to either delight viewers or become an endurance test. This is one of those films where there's no in-between. This story, such as it is, has Nic Cage and his wife living in the woods when a creepy cult leader takes a liking to Cage's wife and (SPOILER ALERT!) ends up killing her in a terrifying home invasion sequence.

Cage is left for dead, but lives and then roars, rampages, and gets bloody satisfaction. What makes "Mandy" such a memorable film is it's hallucinatory fevered dream vision from director Panos Cosmatos.

Set in 1983, the film's style can maybe be best described as "Stranger Things" meets 70s/80s surreal Euro Horror (ALA Dario Argent or Harry Kümel), but the film lovingly and endlessly references many other films, from obvious ones like Hellriaser's cenobites, retro animated sequences reminiscent of "Heavy Metal," or a chainsaw duel similar to the one in TCM2, but also includes less obvious references to films like "Near Dark," "Phantasm," or "Blue Sunshine.

" But "Mandy" is much more than a love letter to arthouse horror films of the past. Cosmatos has crafted a film that is more dreamlike than any film I can recall in recent memory and takes it to a whole new extreme.

Gaspar Noé "Enter the Void" or Cronenber's "Naked Lunch" are probably the closest I can think of, although the closest thing I can think of in terms of tone within the horror genre is the low-budget cult film 1973 film "Lemora: A Child's Tale of the Supernatural.

" On the David Lynch spectrum, this is much closer to "Eraserhead" than "Mullholland Drive." Cosmatos fills his screen with vivid reds, hallucinatory overlapping images, and surrounds it all with a haunting soundscape.

Although the film is very much what it is thanks to Cosmatos, Nic Cage very nearly steals the film with one of his best wildman performances in ages, which is at once insanely over-the-top, but at the same time incredibly wrenching.

Cage is amazing as he roars fighting a chainsaw-wielding leather-clad demonic biker (did I mention there are demonic bikers?), but he's also incredibly moving in emotionally wrought scenes, particularly one where he's in a bathroom, covered in blood, in his tidy whities, drinking vodka straight from the bottle, emoting in a way that's at once wildly "Nic Cage" and over-the-top, but is also quite emotional and effective (if I was still in college, that would be my Halloween costume this year).

"Mandy" might simply have been an austere (and gory) arthouse exercise in horror kinematicss, but Cage commands the screen and connects viewers on an emotional level, which has the impact of viewers not only being drawn in by Cosmatos' visuals on an intellectual level, but also being drawn in by Cage on an emotionally resonant level.

Besides Cage, I'm fascinated by the look of Andrea Riseborough as Mandy. Riseborough is an attractive actress, but Cosmatos gives her a look that recalls Shelley Duvall's oddball look in Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining.

" I felt that most of the characters in the film had an analogue in genre films from the 70s and 80s. The cult leader seemed to be a part tailored for Richard Lynch. Other members of the cult reminded me of beefy Brian Thompson, another a short version of Julian Sands, another like Richard Jenkins, and even a Susan Tyrrell analogue.

The film even features a bit part for actual 70/80s genre actor Bill Duke (who's a pretty solid director himself). Complimenting Cosmatos' nightmare soundscape is a wonderfully retro prog rock-like score by Jóhann Jóhannsson's, his final film score.

There's even a uber cool theme song by King Crimson! If I do have a complaint about the film, it's that the first act establishing Mandy and Cage's relationship seemed a bit long and was less interesting than the film's revenge filled second half, although that second half may not have been as good without the character elements being established.

Still, it's the film's surreal nightmare visions throughout that will stick with you (Jean Cocteau by way of Clive Barker), which for better or for worse will either delight or endlessly annoy viewers.

Watch if you dare! FUN FACT! The Cheddar Goblin commercial was directed by Casper Kelly, who directed the Adult Swim short "Too Many Cooks.".